Veterans care home makes cash appeal

A £6 MILLION campaign has been launched to double the number of places available at an Edinburgh care home for war veterans.

The Erskine home on Gilmerton Road, which provides specialist care for ex-service men and women, has a growing waiting list.

It needs more beds to cope with the number of soldiers returning injured to Scotland from modern-day war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

The public appeal for cash was launched by Edinburgh-based actress Eileen McCallum, famed for her roles in Take the High Road and River City.

The money will go towards a 48-bed expansion of the six-year-old home. Building work is due to get under way next spring and the extension is scheduled to open its doors in early 2009.

Former Royal Navy radio operator Robert Carmichael, 48, is one of the younger users of the home. He broke his neck after diving into the sea while on shore-leave in Gibraltar in 1980 and is now confined to a wheelchair able to move only his head and right hand.

Mr Carmichael, from Stoneyburn in West Lothian, spends four weeks a year at the home.

He said: "I live with my 72-year-old mother, but I need constant care, so being able to come here is a great respite for both of us.

"The services are a godsend, but demand for beds is very high. Anything that can be done to increase the number of rooms would be great, and I would urge people to donate funds.

"There are residents here who risked their lives for us all, many in the Second World War. But I think a lot more people are going to end up here as result of what's happening in Iraq.

"We hear on the news when people die, but we don't hear about the number of people being injured. They are coming home both physically and mentally disabled."

The new facilities will be built on the site of the neighbouring former Murray Home, owned by the separate charity Scottish Veteran Residences.

The extension will allow residents to become more independent, with large rooms, disabled access and en-suite facilities.

Residents will have medical care, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, hairdressing, dentistry and access to a sensory garden.

Erskine, which was founded in 1916, provides nursing and medical care for former members of the armed forces who have served in every conflict since the First World War.

The charity cared for a total of 1200 people aged between 22 and 100 in the last year at homes across Scotland.

Eileen McCallum said: "I would appeal to everyone in Scotland, young and old, to dig deep and do what they can to support the appeal and the provision of much-needed beds in the Erskine Edinburgh care home."

Erskine's chief executive Colonel Martin Gibson said: "Every donation, whatever the amount, makes a big difference, and every penny goes towards creating a homely environment for brave men and women who have helped to preserve our way of life.

"Sadly, war is not a thing of the past and to continue to provide the level of care that our veterans so richly deserve, we need the public's support."

Lord Provost George Grubb, who was a squadron leader chaplain in the Royal Air Force between 1962 and 1970, also lent his support.

To make a donation to Erskine, visit their website at www.erskine.org.uk